One of the greatest joys I have in publishing Fiction River is being able to offer promising new authors their first ever story sale. In fact, just recently, I was able to send a contract to an author for his first sale on his birthday. That is a great feeling.

Writers often toil for a long time before they get to the point of earning money from their writing. It takes a lot of words and a lot of work to become a published author. So, when they do make that first sale, it deserves to be celebrated—because it’s both the end of that period of wondering if that sale will ever happen and the beginning of a career.

Great fiction leads each of us on our own journey, just as these first sales have led the authors on their own new paths.

Speaking of new paths, with Fiction River about to enter Year Four, it was time to start bringing back some of our earlier stories in new compilations. We’ve published about 300 amazing stories by more than 100 talented authors in that time, from New York Times bestsellers to debut authors.

So, we came up with the idea for Fiction River Presents, a Fiction River reprint anthology line that will publish bimonthly (during the off months of the regular Fiction River publishing schedule). It’s the first volume where you’ll see my name as editor.

I’m far from new to editing. As a journalist, I have more than ten years’ experience editing magazines and newspapers. And as a fiction editor, well, I’ve been doing that behind the scenes for a while now, but this was a project I felt very passionately needed to come to life, and I wanted to be the one to shepherd it into existence.

I hope you enjoy this first volume of Fiction River Presents. It is the start of many more great things to come.

Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.